Sales data shows shoppers got a slow start in December. Retailers were forced to offer bigger and bigger sale promotions to get shoppers in the door, and their profit margins showed it.

If the biggest shopping season of the year doesn't spur spending, what will? The answer is putting more money in the pockets of those that will spend it.

When workers make more, they spend more. Raising the minimum wage will increase consumer spending and help our economy.

A National Employment Law Project report from last August found that the majority of jobs created during the economic recovery are low-wage jobs of less than $14 per hour. During the same period of time, a California Budget Project study shows that a third of all new income into California goes to our state's top 1 percent. In addition, the Census Bureau showed no significant change in income for our poorest workers whereas the top 1 percent saw their income grow by 6 percent in 2011.

What does this all mean? The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. In fact, California is facing the largest income gap in the last 30 years.

Approximately 43 percent of workers are under the age of 35. A study from the Center for Economic & Policy Research shows that today's minimum wage workers are more likely to be better educated than they were in 1980. These are workers with families, struggling to pay for rent and gas, and caring for their parents.

Opponents to the minimum wage contend that it is bad for business in a time when the economic environment is harsh. Ironically enough, Congress found that it was in the best interest of commerce when they established minimum wage during the Great Depression with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. That's because raising the minimum wage puts more money in the pockets of workers struggling to provide food, clothes, and housing for their families. And when minimum wage workers have more money, they spend it.

This year marks the sixth year that our minimum wage has been $8. California has not raised its minimum wage since 2008. But that doesn't mean that local cities won't take action into their own hands.

On Jan. 1, San Francisco's minimum wage rose to $10.55 with the automatic index increase. On March 1, San Jose will implement its new local minimum wage of $10.

The Legislature needs to act this year to raise the minimum wage. The alternative will be more local campaigns to raise the minimum wage to different levels that businesses argue put them at an even greater disadvantage.

We need to maintain a level playing field. We need to raise the minimum wage in California.